


A Selfish Sky

by DragonSaphiraReads



Series: The Selfish Protector [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Blood, Sympathetic Deceit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-06 16:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18392489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads
Summary: Roman brings the others to investigate Deceit's room, and the starry sky he gets to sleep under every night. However, just as Anxiety's room caused them to panic, Deceit's room seems to have an adverse affect on the sides...





	1. Gather the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - You can now listen to this oneshot as an audio recording, read by me!   
> Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/BtWzxIv9dDU  
> Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/Uij8L-8IE7c

Roman pulled along an apprehensive Patton and an apathetic Logan as the trio made their way down the dark hallway. 

“Roman, remind me what we’re doing again?” Logan deadpanned. He knew what the prince’s plan was, and it was stupid. But of course, Roman didn’t want to listen.

“We are going to introduce our happy ball of sunshine and our rain cloud to the real Deceit! Since we know now that he’s not just a liar, I’m sure we can get them to see eye to eye!”

“Roman,” Patton started, forcing himself to smile uncomfortably, “I really don’t think--”

“Virgil!” Roman called in a sing song voice, knocking on the dark wooden door they’d arrived at. “We’ve come to collect you for our latest adventure!”

There was a groan from inside the room. “Not interested, Princey!”

“Nonsense! This will be the grandest of adventures! Certainly you’re curious enough to join us!”

Virgil opened the door a crack and glared at Roman. “Less curious, more terrified for whatever trouble you’re about to cause. I do not want to have to clean glitter out of my hair and clothes again.”

“Fear not, today’s activities have no glitter in sight!”

The door opened a little further, and Virgil gave the other two a confused state. “What is going on?”

Logan adjusted his glasses, sighing. “Roman is insistent that we all go and invite Deceit to our next overnight engagement.”

Virgil blinked. “Oh hell no.”

“Virge, language!” Patton scolded. The anxious side rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not doing anything with that scale-faced... ugh, I don’t even know. But I’m definitely not going to sit around, watch movies and share food with him. End of story.”

Roman reached out and stuck his arm in the doorway before Virgil could lock them out. He grabbed the other’s shoulder and pulled him out of his room and started confidently down the hallway once more, now with two unwilling sides in tow. 

“Princey, let go of me!”

“Roman, maybe we could do this another time?”

Logan sighed. “We all know this isn’t going to stop until Roman hears from Deceit. I’m certain he’s going to turn our offer down, so why don’t we just humor him?” Logan tried to comfort Virgil and Patton as best as he knew how, but they both looked downtrodden and defeated. He pursed his lips.

Roman kept a fast pace, which meant that they made it to Deceit’s door before Virgil or Patton could put up too much of a fight. 

He let go of Patton to knock on the door, after a second of deliberation on who was less likely to run away. 

“Deceit! It’s us, we’ve got a question for you!” He called out proudly. Virgil took a step back from the loud noise, as far as he was allowed with Roman’s hand still tightly around his wrist. He closed his eyes and Logan watched his breathing grow slower, clearly trying to calm himself down from the bubbling panic threatening to rise. 

“Hey, kiddo, maybe this isn’t the best idea...” Patton warned Roman, sidling up next to Virgil and offering a comforting hand on the shoulder. Virgil glanced at him and forced a smile. 

“Hello? Deceit, we’re coming in if you don’t answer!” Roman called, and there was silence from behind the door. “Alright, well I warned you!” 

“Roman, wait, that’s not--”

Patton’s words died in his throat as Roman swung the door open wide, and all four of them caught sight of the interior of Deceit’s room. 

Logan audibly gasped as he stepped past Roman and cast his gaze up. “This is... incredible... how...?”

Roman followed closely behind, grinning from ear to ear at Logan’s unfiltered joy. “I know! I saw it when we came by before, and I had to see it for myself!”

“Did you bring us here just because you wanted to see his room? Why did you drag us along?!” Virgil snarled, tearing himself away from Patton and standing just behind the threshold, blocking Patton from going further. 

“Because I thought you all deserved to see it, not just myself!”

“Roman, did you just come here to come into Deceit’s room uninvited and snoop around?” Patton asked, disappointment clear in his voice. Roman paused, but quickly his attention was diverted by one of the “stars” floating down from the sky and hovering in front of him. Roman held his hands up to hold it, sucking in a breath. 

“Look at this... it’s Thomas in a movie! Patton, look!” The creative side rushed over to the doorway and held out the glowing sphere for him to see. Virgil tried to hold Patton back, but there was something hypnotic about it and the warm glow drew him in. The fatherly side nudged Virgil aside and stepped across the threshold, his hand hovering over the sphere. 

“It’s so warm...!” Patton breathed, before he raised his head to the sky and reached out for a dream of his own. Gently another “star” floated down and Patton held it cautiously, like it might shatter if he grabbed too hard. 

“It’s Thomas’s wedding... look how handsome he is!” He exclaimed, showing it off to the other two. Roman glanced over and cooed over how tidy their host looked, and how widely he was smiling. While he was doing so, however, his arms were curled tightly around the dream sphere he’d already pulled down, protecting it as if the others might try and take it away from him. 

“Logan, look!” Patton tried to show off the dream to Logan, but the logical side was intently staring into his own sphere, one that conjured an image of a Thomas wearing a graduation gown and cap. He was shaking hands with the chancellor, and though there were no visible clues, Logan knew this was Thomas earning his Master’s in Chemical Engineering. Logan pushed away Patton’s incessant insisting that he look at Thomas getting married, this clearly was much more important--

Logan blinked. Where did that thought come from? “I-I’m sorry, Patton, what were you showing me?”

Patton held the dream sphere close to his chest, trying to protect it from Logan warily. “I, uh, are you sure you want to see it?”

The logical side tilted his head. “Of... course I am. You were just trying to show it to me, remember?” 

Patton swallowed and smiled, though it wasn’t as effortless as normal. “Right, right, of course! Here, look! Isn’t he so cute?” Logan nodded, feeling a strange sensation growing in his gut. 

“Yes... yes, he is.” Logan nodded, saying what he knew Patton wanted to hear. The fatherly side giggled and stroked the globe lovingly. 

“I hope Thomas gets to be happy like this...” Patton mumbled. 

“Of... course he will be? While there’s no evidence of marriage being in his near future, there are a number of things that make Thomas happy--”

“Look!” Roman cried, holding now another sphere in his hands. “This one has Thomas receiving a Tony Award!” 

“Ooh!” Patton grinned, reaching now towards the sky for another glowing sphere of his own. He held the other under his arm so he could see the new one clearly.

“What happens in that one, padre?”

“IT’S MINE!” Patton’s shout startled all three of them, and they took a step back from the intense look in Patton’s eyes. He blinked, gasping in surprise and laughing awkwardly. “U-Uh, I mean...”

 **“That’s enough! You all need to get out of here!”** Virgil shouted, pressing his hands on either side of the door frame to stabilize himself. His voice was deep, layered, the voice he uses when he needs Thomas to listen to him, no matter the cost. 

But it had no effect. The three sides inside the room glanced at him for a moment, but then they turned back to their dreams and ignored Virgil completely. The anxious side sucked in a breath - if that didn’t work, there wasn’t anything he could do! It was clear that the room was having some effect on them, and stepping into the room himself would only get him trapped too. 

His breath started coming faster, and he held his hand over his mouth and clutched at his chest. No, this could not happen now! He needed to do something, he could not afford to have a panic attack now! 

It was no good. Virgil sunk to his knees and was forced to watch as his friends continued to pull the glowing spheres out of the sky, hoarding them in their arms and always reaching for more. There were hardly even looking at the ones they held onto anymore, their eyes fixed on the sky. 

Patton was holding the most, his arms brimming over with dream spheres. He had a wild look on his face, and maybe it was just the strange lighting of the fake stars but were his eyes glowing gold?

“Well, isn’t this a... pleasant sight.” Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin at the drawled voice. He ran forward and gripped at his cape, his breathing coming in ragged gasps.

“Deceit! You need to help them! I told them not to go in but they did and now! Now I can’t-- I can’t do anything!” 

Deceit stared at Virgil like he’d grown a second head, lost for words for once. “I... what?”

“Please, I don’t care what I’ve said before, if you don’t do something Thomas is going to be messed up forever! You care about him, right?! You need to get them out of here!”

Virgil pointed emphatically to Deceit’s door, and Deceit quickly realized there were three very loud voices coming from inside his room. He grabbed Virgil’s shoulder and moved him aside, stepping across the threshold confidently and assessing the situation.

Roman was surrounded by several floating spheres, flourishing around with one held in his hand like he was reciting a soliloquy. His whole face was illuminated and there was a dim glow behind his eyes. 

Logan was slightly better. He only had a few dream spheres in his arms, and he was intently gazing into them, eyes flitting between them as if he couldn’t get enough. 

Patton though... he had dream spheres littered around his feet and even more in his arms. He’d pulled as many as he could out of the sky, and as Deceit watched he saw Patton’s eyes shift from the dreams in his arms to the ones in Logan’s.

“Virgil, listen to me! The moment I snap my fingers, you’re going to grab the monologuing prince and get him back to the common room!” Deceit glanced over at Virgil, who was staring at him with his mouth gaping open. 

**“VIRGIL!”** The anxious side gasped and nodded hastily, ready to dash in when he needed to. 

Deceit let out a breath and took his glove off, revealing his scaley, clawed hand. He held it out in front of him, focusing on all the dreams the sides had pulled out of the sky. 

He snapped. 

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the dream spheres edges shimmered, and the glowing orbs shifted from softly illuminating the room to shining like miniature suns. 

“S-Snakes!” Roman cried - the beautiful dreams surrounding him had changed into slithering snakes. He screamed as one of them lunged at his face, stumbling back right into Virgil’s waiting arms. The anxious side bear hugged him from behind and pinned his arms to his side. 

“Time to go, scaredy prince!” Virgil quipped before they were both gone, back to the common room and away from Deceit’s room. The snakes dropped to the ground and melted into golden liquid. Deceit sneered - it would take him forever to put them back the way they were. 

He turned back, realizing the situation that the other two were in. Logan, since he’d only been holding a few dreams in the first place, he’d managed to keep a hold of one. He was gazing at it with the same intensity that he’d gazed at the dreams before. Leave it to him to not be scared of snakes. 

Then he saw the glare in Patton’s wild eyes, and how he’d dropped all of the dreams he’d gathered in his arms and they’d now melted into the floor. His eyes were fixated on the glowing snake curled around Logan’s shoulders. 

**“Patton, stop!”** Deceit commanded, but it was no use. Patton lunged at Logan, his arms outstretched to grab the snake on his shoulders. His eyes were glowing a harsh golden light and his face was twisted into a demented smile. 

“Give it to me!” Patton’s voice was ragged, harsh, something he’d never sounded like before. Logan’s head snapped up and he staggered back--

Deceit slammed into him, pushing him aside and grabbing onto his wrist to keep him from crashing to the ground. He wasn’t quick enough to teleport them out, and Patton raked his fingernails down the human side of Deceit’s face with a deranged laugh before they all landed back in the brightly lit common room. 

They landed hard. Deceit’s grip on Logan’s wrist faltered and the logical side stumbled backwards, losing his balance and falling to the floor. Patton crumpled in Deceit’s grasp, his head lolling as Deceit let him fall back into Virgil’s waiting arms. 

Deceit towered over the rest of the sides who were in various states of consciousness and confusion on the floor. His slitted eye was glowing and as blood trickled down his cheek, he hissed. 

“What the _hell_ was that?!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter did not come out at all like I anticipated it would but oh well! I kinda like how it turned out.
> 
> Also, The Selfish Protector series may be coming out a little slower because I've started a new longer story! It's a Beauty and the Beast AU with platonic Loceit and I'd really love it if you checked it out!

“What the _hell_ was that?”

The other Sides avoided looking up at Deceit, who was bristling with anger. Virgil cradled Patton in his arms, the fatherly side drawing in shallow breaths and eyes flickering under closed eyelids. 

“If one of you does not answer me I swear to everything I will--”

“It was me!” Roman blurted out, jumping to his feet and staring at the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself. “I brought them.”

Deceit hissed out a breath through his teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand. “Why am I not surprised? Roman, what about bringing Patton into _my_ room seemed like a good idea to you?!”

“I...”

“And Logan!” Deceit glared down at the logical side who was still splayed on the floor. “You’re supposed to be Logic! Why didn’t you talk him out of this?!”

“I... I tried, but--”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Logan looked up at him, fidgeting with his glasses. “W-What?”

“You didn’t try to convince anyone.”

“Deceit, get to the point! What happened?! Why did your room affect everyone like this?!” Virgil shouted at him, his anxiety bubbling over when he kept failing to shake Patton awake. “Why won’t Patton wake up!?”

“Because he’s trying to fight off the corruption my room caused! My room is no different than yours, _Virgil,_ and the genius prince here decided it would be a great idea to bring Thomas’s moral compass into my domain!”

“My room never made anyone pass out!”

“That doesn’t mean it can’t do permanent damage!”

“Deceit, please, what’s going to happen to Patton?” Logan asked, slowly standing up. Deceit took a breath and pulled his glove back on, trying to calm himself down.

“Well, if you’re lucky, I got him out in time for there to be no permanent change. But you brought Thomas’s morality into my room, which amplifies selfish desires. Considering how Thomas prides himself on being selfless to a fault, I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out what might happen if I didn’t.” Deceit sneered, and Logan’s eyes widened. 

Roman swallowed hard. “You’re saying... Patton might become more selfish?”

Deceit clapped slowly, patronizing. “Very good!”

“But... why just Patton? Why not the rest of us?” Roman asked, a hand over his chest. None of them had fainted, and even now he couldn’t feel any residual energy that had overwhelmed him in Deceit’s room. The lying side rolled his eyes. 

“Because the two of you are already inherently more likely to accept that part of my influence than Patton is, and Virgil didn’t set foot in my room for more than 30 seconds.”

Then came a soft groan from the side in Virgil’s arms, and Patton slowly blinked himself awake. Virgil watches as a small fleck of gold shifted in his eye before disappearing as Patton rubbed at them. “What... happened?”

“Oh, thank God!” Virgil exclaimed, hugging Patton tightly. Patton glanced blearily around the room at the other concerned faces that had gathered around him. 

“How did we... back in the commons, I thought... Deceit, we...” Patton mumbled, unable to properly finish his sentences or think clearly. Logan put a concerned hand on his shoulder but was unceremoniously shoved aside by Deceit who knelt in front of Patton and grabbed both his shoulders firmly. 

“Hold still!” Deceit growled as Patton instinctively tried to jerk away. Deceit grabbed Patton’s chin and held his head still, studying his eyes for a long moment before letting go with a sigh. 

“He should be fine. But _never_ do that again!” Deceit scolded, turning to Roman and glaring. Patton blinked, and reached out to brush his fingertips faintly against the deep scratches running down the human side of Deceit’s face. The lying side looked back and grabbed Patton’s hand, pulling it away from his face. 

“Yeah, you’ve got some claws on you Pops, who woulda thought?” Deceit smirked at the slow surprise that Patton’s face morphed into. “The kind hearted Patton, the source of another scar on my face. How ironic.”

“I-I didn’t mean to! Deceit, I’m so sor--”

“Don’t say it.” Deceit glared, standing up and towering over Patton. It cast a shadow over his face, leaving his golden eye shining. “Don’t you dare say those words to me unless you actually mean it.”

He turned to Logan then, holding out an expectant hand and plastering a smile on his face. “Now, if you don’t mind, that belongs to me” Deceit motioned to the glowing snake curled gently around Logan’s shoulders. Logan nodded quickly, unwrapping it from its perch and handing it over. 

The snake slithered up Deceit’s arm and curled up on his shoulder. It watched the rest of the sides with curious eyes, tongue flicking. 

Deceit turned away from them and started to sink out, when he felt a hand tightly grasp his wrist.

“Deceit, wait!”

He rolled his eyes, turning back and not even attempting to hide his annoyance now. “What can I help you with now, Roman?”

“Look... It’s my fault we got into this mess, and I’m so sorry for causing all of it. But... I went to your room in the first place to ask you something.”

Deceit sighed, just wanting to leave and not have to deal with any more shenanigans from these four. “Go ahead.” He droned, clearly wanting him to do anything but. 

Roman paused, but he drew up all his courage and smiled widely. “We have movie nights every Friday, I wanted to invite you to join us!”

Deceit stared at him for a moment in disbelief, though he carefully schooled his features to hide it. Roman was telling the truth, he knew, but he still didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“Ask me again after I fix the damage _you_ caused, and maybe you’ll think of a way to make it up to me that doesn’t involve spending time with people who won’t even pretend to tolerate my presence.” 

Then he was gone, and Roman was left standing there with his hand hovering in the air, and three pairs of eyes staring at him in various states of disbelief. 

“What the hell, Roman?!” Virgil cried, leaving Patton sitting by himself and stomping over to Roman, grabbing his sash and jerking him close. “Why the hell did you--”

“I told you that was my plan in the beginning! We’re going to spend some time with Deceit and get to know him! He’s a part of Thomas, just like us!” Roman felt confident about this, more confident than he’d felt about anything in a long time. He puffed his chest out and stared back at Virgil, unwavering. 

Virgil’s eyes were wide with fear and anger, and his fist clenched tighter as Roman spoke. He wanted to tell him about Deceit, about who he was, but he couldn’t. 

Roman read his mind. “I don’t know what your history is with him, and I don’t care. But I do care about helping Thomas, and avoiding everything that makes him scared or uncomfortable is the most boring way to live! We can’t avoid him forever just because you don’t like him, Anxiety!”

Virgil froze, sucking in a breath as he stepped back from Roman like he’d been burned. Roman immediately regretted it. 

“Virgil, I’m sorry I-- I don’t know what came over me, I--”

“You can have your movie night with Deceit. I don’t care. But I don’t will not be a part of it.” And then he was gone as well, leaving the three “Light” sides in the common room.

“Roman...”

The creative side sighed, glancing at Patton who was finally in control of himself. “I know, Pops. I’ll apologize to him later.”

“Well, yes, you need to do that. But... are you sure about this?”

Roman knew he meant Deceit. He took a quick glance at Logan, who had his hands clasped behind his back and face neutral, and Roman made up his mind. 

“I know you and Virgil don’t like him. But Thomas wants to get to know that side of himself, and understand him. And he can’t do that if we don’t make an effort to include him.” He was rather proud of himself for keeping his voice under control when he wanted to break down under Patton’s intense disapproving stare. 

“Patton, you disapprove of this. Why?” Logan asked calmly, and Patton stood, gesturing widely. 

“Because! He’s Deceit! He lies and he just wants Thomas to lie!”

“Are you certain about that?” 

“O-Of course! He’s _Deceit_ \--”

“And you are Morality. But you also control many of Thomas’s emotions, as well as many other functions. Roman and I are the same way, and we know Virgil has more to him than it first appears. Why should we believe that Deceit is any different?”

“Because--”

“You’re letting your emotions dictate your actions. But you have no solid proof that Deceit is any different than the rest of us. He has told us himself that he only wants the best for Thomas. Regardless of his methods, that should be taken into account--”

“STOP!” Patton screamed, covering his ears with his fingers curling. He glared at Logan, and it was enough to make them both take a step back. “I don’t want to hear it! He’s done nothing but try to turn Thomas against me, and I won’t let that happen!”

“Patton--”

Roman reached out, but Patton sunk out before he could say anything else. The prince ran his fingers through his hair, trying to keep from letting the lump in his throat grow. 

“Well... that could’ve gone... better...” Logan spoke slowly, and Roman felt his knees give out from beneath him. 

“I just wanted to help... and now they hate me...”

Logan didn’t know what to say, and so he just sat down silently next to Roman, offering him a shoulder when Roman couldn’t hold his tears in anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment and subscribe!  
> You can talk to me on tumblr! @dragonsaphirareads


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